London (Decca) Jubilee/Reference phono cartridge Colloms System

Sidebar 2: Colloms System

A trial with an undamped Linn Ittok tonearm wasn't promising, but my unmodified Naim ARO tonearm, which offers some mechanical damping, gave fine results. An SME V with high-rate damping provided the most secure tracking, while a discussion with London's UK distributor led me to try using the old London International unipivot arm (footnote 1). (This is an odd plastic-and-metal affair where you allow a couple of days for silicone damping fluid to find its way into a mysterious hidden damping well.)

My most successful trial was with the unipivot ARO mounted on a Linn Sondek LP12 with an SME-type silicone-trough damper temporarily Band-Aided to the arm. I suspect that the Townshend Excalibur, with its head-damping arrangement, would also work well with the London (Decca) Jubilee. The turntables were used sitting on a Mana Acoustics Phase Four stacked table.

Footnote 1: The International tonearm has not stood the test of time. In terms of musical dynamics, it sounded quite flat. You would never have guessed how the Jubilee would sound in this platform: soft, soggy, and uninspiring!Martin Colloms